Creamsicle and the Beardless Woodsman: Day 6

The day of the Waterfull Wonderfalls

8.1 miles from May Lake to Glen Aulin; 8 miles round trip to Waterwheel Falls

So I’ve never been a very religious man, and Heaven after death has always been a good thought but never very plausible in my mind. Never, though, did I ever say that Heaven on Earth did not exist. Today I found it, at least for me. My absurd obsession with water has taken me many a places and I have seen amazing things, but my Heaven goes unmatched at the moment. The hike from May Lake to Glen Aulin was pretty and brought us by a small gorgeous lake that was as still as ketchup out of a glass Heinz 57 bottle. Amazing…at the moment. We hiked on through woods and huge granite rocks and came upon a slightly larger lake that was just as still and had a mountainess back drop. Beautiful, but compared to Heaven, it was like me settling for a great girl instead of the perfect girl…and Forrest Moog doesn’t settle. Then we arrived at Glen Aulin, which was kinda like the escalator on the way to Heaven. There was a spectacular waterfall right next to the tent cabins that rivaled Mystic Falls (just a little smaller) and fell into a turquoise pool where we sat next to and ate lunch (peanut butter sandwich, trail mix and beef jerky). The pool then flowed under a bridge and fell off where we could tell there was a waterfall, but couldn’t see it yet. My 7th sense told me this place was gonna be special. So Vaughn and I then decided to climb to the top of the falls and see what was up there. This is equivalent to me standing in line to get into Heaven (right behind Amy Winehouse…RIP) and could see inside how amazing it was gonna be. We got up top and it was huge rocks with water winding around them and down them and over them and whatever other amazing things water can do. I wish I could describe all these things better but I am a Sport Management major and my vocab is equivalent to that of a 10 year child (a very smart one though). Anytime I see gorgeous waterfalls or pools or anything with water, my first thought is to swim in it. After that, my second through 9th thoughts are to swim in it. And considering I believe you can only regret things that you fail to try, we found a small pool and took a dip (a cold one, but very refreshing). I swam in my boxer briefs to keep the rest of my clothes dry, and I put nothing back on until they were dry. So we explored farther up to the top of the top waterfall by climbing on rocks all over the place. I had a couple awkward encounters with people when we hiked back down the trail (we were off the trail most of the way up) because all I had on were my wet underwear and a camera. Although that is what most girls think of when they think of Heaven, we hadn’t even gotten there yet. So I put my clothes back on and we headed down to begin the hike to Waterwheel Falls, a little over 3 miles away. Little did I know at the time, but that hike would usher me through the pearly gates of Heaven like I could have never imagined. The first waterfall was the one that we could see falling off from the camp. I was very wide and just kinda cascaded down some red/orange rock. It ended in an emerald green pool at the bottom. So we hiked down and around that, along the clearest river I have ever seen (Toulomne River). We went through some amazing fields of flowers, one loaded with Lupines (tall purple ones) that went on forever, with a huge granite face as a background. And The Sound of Music thought they had the flower scene right…psh! A little further down the trail we came upon a cliff about 15-20 ft. above the blue/green clear river. Now I know I mentioned earlier about how all I think about is swimming in gorgeous water when I see it, but cliffs double that thought process. So, considering I only live once (to the age of 110), and I only regret things I fail to try, Vaughn and I had no choice but to jump. So the clothes came off and we jumped into the refreshingly cold water. It was cold enough that my feet felt numb and like rubber when I was swimming to shore. This will certainly be one of my daily hobbies in Heaven. After we had our fun and got our clothes back on, we walked about 200 more yards down the trail and that’s where it all began…the WATERFULL WONDERFALLS!! I’m not gonna describe them all because there are too many and they all were supurbulifous (10X as good as spectacular) in there own way. I also suck at writing so my descriptions would do no good. Basically, we were going downward along the river through a gorge type valley as the water continued to waterfall at different points in different ways over and over again. There were falls over red/orange rocks, falls like massive waterslides, falls that hit rocks at places and shot water up ever so violently, and finally Waterwheel Falls, which sort of snaked down the canyon/valley/gorge thingy like a gumball swirling out of a gumball machine. But the excitement it gave me was not like any ordinary gumball out of the machine, it was like that one red one that gives you the free game of pool!!! Oh how giddy I was. At every falls we scrambled off trail to get better views. When we hit Waterwheel we realized Vaughn was running late for his dinner (I’m a big boy so I cook my own). Unfortunately, from the first fall after the swimming hole to the last was all steep downhill. Not much more to say other than the way back up SUCKED (beautiful though)!! We were so excited that we didn’t seem to comprehend that the more steep downhill we do, the more steep uphill we do on the way back. Vaughn ended up running back when we got to the flat part while I took my time and relaxed (or just couldn’t move my legs any faster). All I have to say is if my legs aren’t dramatically bigger (medium-sized twigs instead of small ones) after this trip, I’ll be very angry. Right when I got back I went to check on my clothes that I put on a rock to dry earlier. My shirt and one of the socks had blown off right into the water. So much for me livin right. i then ate the rest of my bag of trail mix, beef jerky, granola bar, and two chicken legs, bread and cookies that Maggie snuck me in a napkin from their dinner. Considering I was walking in a way which really supported my grandpa nickname, I figured it was time to set up camp and hit the hay.


"I beg your pardon, Owl, but I th-th-th-think we coming to a fatterfall... a flutterfall... a very big waterfall!" - Piglet

"Leisure is a form of silence, not noiselessness. It is the silence of contemplation such as occurs when we let our minds rest on a rosebud, a child at play, a Divine mystery, or a waterfall." - Fulton J. Sheen